When the decision ball keeps rolling: An investigation of the Sisyphus effect among maximizing consumers

Carrillat, FA; Ladik, DM; Legoux, R

When the decision ball keeps rolling: An investigation of the Sisyphus effect among maximizing consumers

Carrillat, FA

Ladik, DM Legoux, R

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Marketing Letters, 2011, 22 (3), pp. 283 - 296
Issue Date:: 2011-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Carrillat, FA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6188-1372	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ladik, DM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Legoux, R	en_US
dc.date.issued	2011-09-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Marketing Letters, 2011, 22 (3), pp. 283 - 296	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0923-0645	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/28636
dc.description.abstract	Maximizing and satisficing consumers are distinguished by the quest for perfection (the former) versus the acceptance of good-enough options (the latter). The emerging literature in this field leans toward a view of maximizers as consumers who take into account as much information as possible in order to achieve the best purchase outcome. Our article explores the paradoxical phenomenon that maximizers minimize the value of information resulting from their past experiences; i. e., their previous purchase decisions. As a modern Sisyphus rolling his boulder back up the hill after every decision, a maximizer starts anew for each decision that is undertaken even if a similar process has been undertaken in the past; the very quest for perfection makes a maximizer minimize the value of past decisions. Furthermore, the generalizability of this finding is examined for different levels of purchase involvement. Results from two studies, including a probabilistic sample drawn from the general US population, show that past retail store performance becomes a weaker predictor of repurchase intention as maximization tendencies increase among consumers. In the same vein, regret has less negative impact on maximizers' behavioral intention than on satisficers'. In addition, when involvement increases through price, satisficers start to behave like maximizers as past service experiences becomes less strongly related to their intention. The support found for the Sisyphus Effect is discussed in light of the current theorization of Schwartz and colleagues regarding maximizing consumers. Finally, suggestions for further research are developed. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Marketing Letters	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s11002-010-9125-y	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Marketing	en_US
dc.title	When the decision ball keeps rolling: An investigation of the Sisyphus effect among maximizing consumers	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	22	en_US
utslib.for	1505 Marketing	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Marketing Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	22	en_US

Abstract:

Maximizing and satisficing consumers are distinguished by the quest for perfection (the former) versus the acceptance of good-enough options (the latter). The emerging literature in this field leans toward a view of maximizers as consumers who take into account as much information as possible in order to achieve the best purchase outcome. Our article explores the paradoxical phenomenon that maximizers minimize the value of information resulting from their past experiences; i. e., their previous purchase decisions. As a modern Sisyphus rolling his boulder back up the hill after every decision, a maximizer starts anew for each decision that is undertaken even if a similar process has been undertaken in the past; the very quest for perfection makes a maximizer minimize the value of past decisions. Furthermore, the generalizability of this finding is examined for different levels of purchase involvement. Results from two studies, including a probabilistic sample drawn from the general US population, show that past retail store performance becomes a weaker predictor of repurchase intention as maximization tendencies increase among consumers. In the same vein, regret has less negative impact on maximizers' behavioral intention than on satisficers'. In addition, when involvement increases through price, satisficers start to behave like maximizers as past service experiences becomes less strongly related to their intention. The support found for the Sisyphus Effect is discussed in light of the current theorization of Schwartz and colleagues regarding maximizing consumers. Finally, suggestions for further research are developed. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/28636